BOMBASTIK

BROTHERS John Rey and Toby Tiangco deserve praises not only from the public but from their colleagues in the government as they have shown such great performance in public service that others must emulate and be of envy.

Of course, they don’t have the monopoly of leadership, so to speak, but what can we do if John Rey, the current city chief executive and Toby, who led the city for more than a decade as the former’s predecessor and now Navo-tas’ lone representative at the House of Representatives, have demonstrated such kind of leadership that helps transform the coastal city into a more progressive and vibrant locality in Metro Manila?

Evident of the duo’s terrific feats include their initiatives to build several flood-control facilities primarily like the numerous pumping stations, which are now already 37 and two more are under construction.

Cognizant of the importance of these pumping stations in alleviating flooding especially along the city’s coastal areas where many residents are residing, the Tiangco brothers decided not to wait for the anti-flood projects from the national government.

Otherwise, the low-lying city would have long been literally underwater for years.

Though amenable that national government projects like the much-criticized multi-billion peso Camanava Flood Control Project and Drainage Improvement gave few benefits to the residents, the Tiangcos would not heavily rely on them.

Instead, they maximized the city’s resources and began putting up these pumping stations that they’ve found to be very effective in lessening the impact of severe flooding that occurs even during high tide. As a result, effect of flooding in the City has been hugely reduced and more often than not, now already manageable.

To count, there’re already 37 “Bombastik” pumping stations, two of which had just been opened recently in F. Ablola Street, Vadeo 6 and Apugan Street, both in Barangay Tangos. Two more similar flood-control structures are under construction in A. Santiago and M. Naval Street in Barangay Sipac-Almacen which will bring to a total of 39 pumping stations that are built through the initiatives of the Tiangco brothers.